Belgian Grand Prix: F1 – live

Lap 25/44 It’s been coming – I guess he was hiping for a downpour, a red flag, and the chance to have work done on his car – but with no such luck, Sainz retires. In sixth, Tsunoda makes his second stop and, given how far these still have to drive, I wonder if we see some coming in thrice. Back on the track, Russell blazes by Norris into eighth, and I imagine he’ll soon be at Hulkenberg in seventh.

Lap 24/44 Norris, having pitted, is back up to 13th having passed Zhou, while the rain dribbles to a near-halt, blue sky moving it along. Gasly, meanwhile, pits – the last in the field so to do – and Hamilton os closing in on Leclrec, the difference between them now 2.412s.

Lap 23/44 Russell comes in and changes to softs, emerging in 15th place, while Tsunoda nails Gasly to assume sixth place. There’s a lot going on behind Alonso in fifth, but the top four looks pretty settled.

Lap 22/44 Verstappen stretches his lead over Perez to over four seconds as the skies brighten. I don’t think anyone will want to pit for the rain now, as it looks like it’s going though is still pretty heavy.

Lap 21/44 Hamilton isn’t making much impression on Leclerc, 3.158 behind him, and Verstappen tells his team it’s raining “a lot”. Stroll finally pits and a poor job means he emerges in 18th, but on fresh softs, he’s a fighting chance of moving up the field quickly.

Lap 20/44 It’s raining now, and if it’s a heavy shower, we might get a red flag and a free tyre-change for everyone. Meantime, though, Stroll’s struggles continue, Tsunoda moving by him into eighth before attacking Gasly in seventh!

1. Verstappen

2. Perez

3. Leclerc

4. Hamilton

5. Alonso

6. Russell

7. Gasly

8. Tsunoda

9. Stroll

10. Ocon

Lap 19/44 The rain is almost with us and it might be heavy; Stroll, Russell and Gasly will like the sound of that, having not yet pitted. The shower shoild last about 10 minutes. Oh, and Stroll, struggling on the tyres he’s not yet changed, is passed by Gasly and now has Tsunoda on his tail.

Lap 18/44 And, of course, a record that’s already gone is most wins in a row for a team, Red Bull making it 12 last weekend. I’ve not a clue where they’ll end up, but 13 is pretty much in the bag. And, to underline the point, Verstappen sets a fastest lap, his lead over Perez already 2.116.s.

Lap 17/44 Verstappen feints to go outside, lines up to pass inside, and he grooves past his teammate like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Something wild will have to happen for this not to be eight wins straight for the champ; the record is Vettel’s nine in 2013.

Lap 16/44 Alonso, already past Gasly, takes out Russell, as Verstappen closes the cap on Perez to 0.303s, and the Mexican will be fearing the worst. How can he hold off a better driver in a similar car? Well, he’s going to try, putting as many miles as he can into Verstappen’s tyres and hoping to run the speed out of them.

Lap 15/44 Phew, lot going on there, but Verstappen is out just 2.464s behind Perez, whose stop was a poor one; there’ll be no action taken against Hamilton who sets the fastest lap of the race so far.

Lap 14/44 Perez leads Verstappen by 2.452s and Hamilton is now on mediums; I wonder what the others will do. Perez then stops, Verstappen is ordered by his team to do what he’s told, which I think is essentially to stay patient, and he now leads. Hamilton, meanwhile, may have wiggled on the straight – more on that later – and the rain is 10 minutes ago. Red Bull might fancy waiting till after the rain to bring Verstappen in but, as I type that, he pits.

Lap 13/44 Those on softs – so the front four – are making their tyres last pretty well, but with rain likely in 15 minutes or so, might have a decision to make shortly.

1. Perez

2. Verstappen

3. Leclerc

4. Hamilton

5. Stroll

6. Russell

7. Gasly

8. Alonso

9. Hulkenberg

10. Tsunoda

Oh, and as I type that, Hamilton pits, emerging still in fourth but now 22.714s behind Leclerc, yet to stop.

Lap 12/44 Perez is doing well to maintain his lead over Verstappen – it’s 2.690s now – then Alonso has a go at Hulkenberg, in eighth, but has to pull out as the door is closed. In fourth, meanwhile, Hamilton trails Leclerc by 4.243s.

Lap 11/44 Oscar Piastri has made a great start to his F1 career, so won’t be too gutted with his day – once he’s calmed down and deployed some perspective. Meantime, Stroll in fifth and Russell in sixth pit, both emerging ahead of Gasly in seventh.

Lap 10/44 Perez is told Verstappen is behind him now and also to look after his tyres; the champ and championship leader is lapping around 0.6s faster than his teammate, the gap between them 2.694s.

Lap 9/44 Hamilton is told there’s potential rain on the radar, 20 minutes ago; that’ll encourage the McLarens. Verstappen now trails Leclerc by less than half a second and, as I type that, he takes the slipstream, engages DRS, and as the Ferrari takes the middle of the track, shoots past on the inside, braking at the last possible split-second, and can he get up past teammate Perez?

Lap 8/44 Hamilton is 8.106s ahead of Alonso, so he should be OK for P4. But once Verstappen takes out Leclerc, as looks inevitable, he and his Mercedes will have a decent chance of forcing a podium.

Lap 7/44 Russell eases past Sainz, whose car looks a bit like a shark, if you imagine those gills down the side of it. Verstappen, meanwhile, sets a fastest lap, closing the gap on Leclerc to 0.898s, while Perez leads by 2.698s.

Lap 6/44 Norris is hating his tyres and pits, then Verstappen pounces before the chicane to take out Hamilton like it’s nothing! Slipstream, DRS and goodbye; I don’t fancy Leclerc’s chances of keeping him out, the gap between them currently 1.071s.

Lap 5/44 Sainz is going backwards, losing a place to Tsunoda, and Verstappen is all over Haimlton, just 0.452s behind.

1. Perez

2. Leclerc

3. Hamilton

4. Verstappen

5. Alonso

6. Tsunoda

7. Sainz

8. Albon

9. Stroll

10. Russell

11. Norris

12. Ocon

13. Sargeant

14. Bottas

15. Gasly

16. Zhou

17. Hulkenberg

18. Magnussen

19. Ricciardo

Lap 4/44 Verstappen has closed the gap on Hamilton to 0.318s but he’s not yet threatened the overtake, while Hamilton is still close to Leclerc and, at the front, Perez stretches clear by 2.244s. Meantime, Alonso goes by Sainz, who has a hole in the side of his car from the Pisatri collision.

Lap 3/44 Looking again at that Piastri collision, we see Sainz cutting across, cutting off his racing line, and forcing him to scrape the wall. Piastri is now officially out, the green flag shows us the track is clear, and we’re all good. It’s worth noting that is the longest circuit we have, which might’ve saved us a yellow flag, the McLaren removed before the rest of the field got back around to it.

Lap 2/44 Perez is bousting away now, extending his lead over Leclerc to 1.409s. Hamilton is third, 1.789s more behind, Verstappen down another 2.345s, and then it does Sainz, Alonso, Norris, Tsunoda, Albon, Stroll. Piastri has gone from fifth to last, but then he turns off the track and might we need a safety car now?

Lap 1/44 Leclerc gets away well and Hamilton hangs onto third; Piastri has a broken front wing after colliding with Sainz – he looks jiggered already! – but look at Perez, burning past Leclerc into first, and Verstappen is already fourth! What a start for Red Bull!

Remember that Verstappen absorbed a five-place starting penalty for his new gearbox so starts sixth on the grid, and it’s nearly time…

The formation lap is away, led by Charles Leclerc.

Thanks Yara and hi everyone. Can anyone stop Max Verstappen and Red Bull? Ever?

Just before we begin, I’m handing it off to Daniel Harris, the real reason you are all here.

Thanks for joining me, and enjoy Daniel’s elite coverage.

The Belgian national anthem has been sung by an Elton John look-alike and the excitement is building. We’re a few minutes away from the Belgian Grand Prix!

More from Russell who says that is hasn’t been easy accepting where Mercedes are now.

“It’s difficult for all of us. You go through this period, everybody is so used to winning – so many days of glory – and suddenly on the back foot. Everybody has put so much effort into this, it is a little bit demoralising sometimes.”

Verstappen spotted making his way to the grid.

How will P6 affect his finish?

Does the FIA prioritise the safety of their drivers?

George Russell believes that the F1 governing body shouldn’t second guess cancelling races in the interest of safety.

“Following recent events, the FIA have to be bold with their decisions when it comes to safety, when it comes to visibility,” he said.

“Everybody wants to race but when you are going down that straight at over 200 miles an hour and you can’t see 50 metres in front of you, there will be huge incidents.”

Read more below.

Not a great start for Nico Hulkenberg…

What happened in yesterday’s sprint race? Verstappen converted pole position into victory taking the lead back from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

The two drivers opted for pretty different strategies in wet conditions.

Catch up on how it all went down with Giles Richards’ report from Spa-Francorchamps.

Preamble